


bloodstain

by criminally_minded



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23864572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/criminally_minded/pseuds/criminally_minded
Summary: “Don’t worry, Hotch. It probably looks worse than it is. The superficial blood vessels of the scalp and face are particularly vulnerable to trauma.” Spencer was starting to sweat, his hands shaking as he wiped blood out of his eyes.“Reid, your left ear is gone.”
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid
Comments: 6
Kudos: 309
Collections: Just.... So cute...





	bloodstain

Aaron didn’t see the shooter. He hadn’t known anything was amiss at all as he stepped out of the car. He didn’t even notice Spencer barreling towards him until he was mere feet away. He had no time to do anything besides take in the panic-stricken look on the young agent’s face before he was tackled to the ground.

A shot rang out. Spencer was on top of him, enveloping him as they fell to the pavement. 

Another shot. Spencer curled himself around Aaron, pressing his head to his chest, arm wrapped behind Aaron’s neck, as he braced himself on their vulnerable side. Several guns were being fired now, and they could hear Morgan demanding a cease-fire. 

Hotch pressed a firm hand against Spencer’s chest. “Let me up, he needs backup.” 

Inches above Spencer’s head, a bullet tore a hole through the door of the car. Spencer pressed Aaron impossibly further to the ground. Aaron felt as though he was trying to absorb him. He grimaced at the pebbles digging into his spine.

“Stay down,” Spencer hissed. “Morgan’s fine, Emily’s with him. They’re targeting you.”

For a few terrifying and seemingly endless moments, all Aaron could hear was the back and forth volley of bullets and Spencer breathing heavily above him. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it ended. Morgan called that the unsubs were down, and Spencer rolled off of him, laying on his back with his eyes squeezed shut, breathing labored. 

“You okay, Hotch?” Spencer asked, voice rough.

Aaron propped himself up on his elbows and took stock of himself. Sore, and he had hit his head pretty hard on the pavement, but he was almost certain he wasn’t concussed.

“Fine,” he confirmed, sitting up fully and glancing over at Spencer. His heart plummeted.

“Oh my God, Reid.” He scrambled over to find the source of the blood covering his face and pooling quickly beneath him. “We need a medic over here!” he shouted. His hands found the deep gash on the left side of Spencer’s face and the mangled clump of flesh that was once an ear. “God,” he repeated shakily.

“Don’t worry, Hotch. It probably looks worse than it is. The superficial blood vessels of the scalp and face are particularly vulnerable to trauma.” Spencer was starting to sweat, his hands shaking as he wiped blood out of his eyes. 

“Reid, your left ear is gone.”

Spencer blinked up at him, struggling to keep his eyes open and focused. “Oh. You’re okay though, Hotch?” 

Aaron pressed his hand against as much of the wound as he could, trying to staunch the steady flow of blood. He could see the ambulance lights nearing. “Help is coming, Reid. Stay with me, okay?” 

He startled at the feel of Spencer’s trembling fingers on his cheek. “Are you hurt, Aaron?” 

Aaron shook his head. “No, I’m okay. You’re hurt, though. The ambulance is here.”

Spencer’s lips turned up at the corners almost imperceptibly, and then his eyes rolled back and his hand dropped to his side. Aaron held pressure until the medics arrived, then rushed over to where Morgan was consulting with the LEOs several yards away. He turned immediately at Hotch’s approach.

“How is he?” He asked anxiously.

Aaron shook his head and looked down at his hands, which were covered in Spencer’s blood. “Not sure. There was… there was a lot of blood.”

Morgan dragged his hands down his weary face. “Okay. Go to the hospital. I’ll call the rest of the team to let them know, and once we’re finished here I’ll meet you all there.”

“You sure?” Hotch asked.

“I’m sure. Go, Hotch.”

______

Two hours later Hotch was seated in a hard plastic chair in a too-bright waiting room, his worried team surrounding him. When he had asked for an update, a harried looking nurse had told him only that the doctor was still working on him before she had rushed off. 

Hotch stared down at his hands and clasped them together to try to calm their persistent tremor. Though he had long since washed Spencer’s blood off his hands, he could still feel it there, viscous and warm.

Spencer’s bloodied face flashed behind his eyelids once more. ‘Are you hurt, Aaron?’ He dropped his head into his hands.

A moment later the heavy weight of a hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up to see Rossi, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“Let’s go get some tea,” Rossi suggested in his kind but authoritative way that let Hotch know he really had no say in the matter. 

Aaron glanced over at JJ, whose red-rimmed eyes were fixed on him. She nodded. “Go on, I'll call you if we get any updates.”

He nodded and followed his friend obediently. The two walked in silence until they were seated at a tiny table in the cafeteria, steaming cups of tea in front of them. 

“So…” Rossi started. “How are you holding up?”

Aaron stared down at his tea. “I’m fine. Just worried about Reid, of course.”

Rossi leaned across the table. “You're not fine, Aaron. It’s written all over your face. So tell me what’s really going on here.”

Hotch groaned. “It should have been me.” He saw Rossi open his mouth to respond, but cut him off quickly. “I’m the leader of this team. I’m supposed to protect them, not the other way around. But Spencer threw himself on top of me, like some kind of human shield, and he took a bullet that was meant for me. Why would he do that?”

“First of all, yes you are the leader, but you are also a part of our team. We protect each other, and that includes you.” Rossi took a sip of his tea and leaned back. “As for why he did it… I think you know the answer to that.”

Aaron furrowed his brow. “No, I don’t. It was reckless.”

“It was love, you idiot. He’s in love with you.”

Aaron choked on his tea.

Rossi raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Are you really telling me you didn’t know?”

Hotch frowned. It was true that Reid had always sought out his approval. And he always brought Aaron coffee when he was stuck working late. There was the way Reid’s eyes seemed to track him in a room. How he would step in close behind Aaron and rest a hand on his shoulder as he pointed to something on a map. 

Spencer had lain on the pavement, bleeding from a gaping wound in his head, and yet… ‘are you hurt, Aaron?’

“Oh my god,” he murmured after a moment of quiet contemplation. “How did I not see it?” 

“Because you, Aaron Hotchner, are better at profiling homicidal maniacs than you are at profiling your friends. The real question is,” Rossi paused before asking, “how do you feel about him?”

Aaron shook his head. “He’s more than ten years younger than me.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I’m technically his boss.”

“Still not an answer.” 

Hotch sighed heavily, thinking back on the way his heart would swell when Reid remembered just how he took his coffee. How the heat from his body would make Hotch’s face flush. Late night thoughts that he had tried to suppress, believing that nothing would ever come of them. 

He rubbed his hands over his face. “What if I never get to tell him, Dave?”

As if on cue, his phone rang. JJ informed him that the doctor was ready to give them updates. Aaron was on his feet and all but sprinting down the corridor before she had finished her sentence, tea left untouched on the cafeteria table.

Aaron stopped dead five feet from the group gathered around a solemn looking doctor. JJ was sobbing into her hands, Morgan’s arm wrapped around her for support. 

He felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. He opened his mouth to ask what happened, but all that came out was a strangled, painful noise. 

As soon as JJ noticed his presence, she launched herself into his arms. “He’s going to be okay,” she cried, burying her face in Aaron’s suit jacket.

Aaron felt his knees go weak with relief and he inhaled deeply, vision blurry. He wrapped his arms around JJ and looked to the doctor. “He’s okay?” Hotch asked, throat still tight.

The doctor nodded. “He’s stable. He lost a lot of blood, so he’ll need another transfusion before he can go home. And…” the doctor shuffled uncomfortably. “We weren’t able to save his ear. It wasn’t viable. We’ll see what we can do about reconstruction or prosthesis once he heals up a bit.”

Aaron nodded. “Can we see him?”

The doctor glanced around at the large group. “You can, but he may be a bit groggy. One at a time, please, and let him rest when he needs to.”

“You got it, doc. Thank you.” Morgan stepped forward and shook the man's hands before he scurried off to his next patient.

Aaron gently pulled JJ away from himself. “Why don’t you go see him first?”

The woman pulled back, wiping her cheeks with the sleeves of her sweater. “No,” she replied, “you should go. Spencer will want to see you first.”

Aaron looked at his team, most of whom were smiling knowingly or nodding. He glanced at Rossi, who was grinning at him.

“Everyone knows?” He asked quietly.

Rossi chuckled and clapped him on the back. “A genius he may be, but subtle he is not.”

Garcia squealed and hid her massive grin behind her hands. At a stern look from Hotch, she quickly explained, “sorry, sir, it’s just that we’ve all known for ages and now you know too! I’m just happy.”

“You’re all okay with this?” Aaron asked. Everyone nodded or gave a simple ‘yes, sir’ in response.

Morgan stepped forward and studied him for a moment. “Whatever you decide, just try not to hurt him. If you don’t want to be with him, let him down easy. And if you do, then just be good to him.” He hesitated and backed away. “Reid is the glue that holds this team together. We need him, so don’t mess this up.”

Aaron nodded. He wasn’t comfortable having his private life on display like this, but he knew his team had a right to know. This would impact them all, one way or another. “I’ll try my best. The last thing I want is to hurt him.”

Morgan smiled. “Then go get him, boss man.”

_____

Spencer was lying back with his eyes half closed, but he was alert and attentive within moments after Aaron entered the room and settled in the bedside chair. 

“Hotch,” Spencer started, voice slightly hoarse. His eyes scanned over Aaron quickly, concern etched in his features. 

“Reid, I’m fine, don’t worry about me. How are you?” Aaron asked gently. 

Reid leaned back in the bed and his fingers hosted over the bandage covering most of his head and left ear. He winced. “It stings. I’ve dealt with worse though, and the Tylenol took the edge off.” 

Aaron nodded and they lapsed into a heavy silence, both tangled up in their own thoughts. 

“Reid-“

“Hotch, I-“

They both stopped and chuckled, some of the tension in the room dissipating. Spencer gestured for Aaron to continue. 

“Reid, I just wanted to say thank you. You risked your life for me. You could have died.” 

Spencer smiled self-consciously and shrugged. “Of course, Hotch. I know you would have done the same for me.”

Aaron leaned forward. “Yes, I would have. I would do just about anything for you, Spencer.”

Spencer started back at him with wide, startled eyes. Hotch placed a tentative hand in Spencer’s forearm, steeling himself against his nerves. 

“Spencer, I need you to tell me.”

Spencer’s eyes darted about the room, panic plain on his face. “Tell you what?”

Aaron’s gaze didn’t falter. “Tell me why you threw yourself in front of an armed gunman for me.” 

Reid's face was flushing, pink from the base of his neck to the very bottom of his bandages. He stared down at Aaron’s hands on his arm. “You don’t know? I would have thought it was obvious.”

Hotch’s heart was hammering so loudly he could barely hear the man's quiet words. “Please. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings. Just look at me and be honest.”

Spencer placed his hand over Hotch’s and after a brief pause, forced himself to look up. His face was open and vulnerable in a way that made Aaron’s breath catch in his throat. 

“I’m in love with you, Aaron. I’m always going to protect you, no matter what the cost, because I don’t want to live in a world without you.” He reached out and lightly touched the side of Aaron’s face. “If you want to pretend this never happened, I’m okay with that. But please don’t kick me off the team, because keeping you safe is my most important job, and I won’t entrust it to anyone else.” He was smiling, but his eyes were suspiciously glassy. 

Eight hours ago, Aaron had thought his feelings for the young, beautiful genius were just a pipe dream. He had never considered trying to act on them. And yet here he was, with Spencer’s fingers grazing his jaw, and the raw desire and love he felt were making him dizzy. 

He grabbed Spencer’s hands and turned his head to press a kiss to his palm. He heard Spencer’s sharp intake of breath and smiled. 

“Can I lay with you for a bit?” Hotch asked quietly. 

Spencer nodded and scooted over to make room. His face was serious as he watched Hotch arrange himself on Spencer’s uninjured side.

Aaron turned on his side with one arm under his head and reached out with the other to pull Spencer close. “Spence, you’re absolutely certain you want this?” Aaron asked so quietly it was almost a whisper.

Spencer looked dazed, but nodded fervently. 

Aaron swallowed thickly and leaned forward to press a sweet, chaste kiss on Spencer’s lips. When he pulled away, Spencer’s eyes were still shut.

“Am I dreaming?” Reid asked. “Am I actually in an OR under anesthesia and I’m just having extremely vivid dreams?”

Aaron threw his head back and laughed, then curled in tight around Spencer. He slipped his arm carefully under his head and the other around his waist. “No, sweetheart, not a dream. I promise.” 

He pressed another kiss to the top of Spencer’s head. A moment passed in content silence before Aaron added, “I love you too, Spence. So be more careful, okay? I don’t want to have to live without you, either.”

Spencer smiled against Aaron’s neck as his eyes fluttered shut. “Okay. We can protect each other.”

“Deal.”


End file.
